Charlotte Whitby-Coles

I am from Bristol, UK, but now live in Panchgani, India, with my family. I am a Mum to twin daughters, and with my husband, Amin Hajee, we are homeschooling them, they are eight years old and have never attended formal school. I have a doctorate in Social Anthropology, with my specific area of study being the breakdown of Religious Syncretism in India. I am also a qualified Tennis Coach and currently run a small program for local kids in Panchgani, and I am Head of Special Projects at Mahesh Bhupati Tennis Academies (MBTA). My hobbies include tennis, yoga, running and trekking along with any outdoor activities including kayaking and surfing. I love skiing too and love to walk in the mountains. We love the beach and swimming is a favourite pastime! I love music and enjoy movies, and have a dream to travel the world with my family. I am interested in Waldorf Steiner as an educational philosophy as well as the idea of unschooling. I also love learning new handcrafts such as knitting and crochet, and spend a lot of time researching ways to help my children learn at home. Waste management worries me and I am happy that there are increasing initiatives to manage our excessive human waste and I worry that global warming is slowly killing our sealife and planet and am always interested in initiatives that look to help arrest the damage and help he situation the world is now in. I long for peace and love to prevail over hate and anger, and hope one day my children and the generations after them are able to be mindful and empathetic, to help them negotiate human relations more peacefully than our generation and previous generations have done before them.

Changing the way we educate kids, Getting kids outside!

Learning at home, changing the way we educate kids.

Anthropology, Homeschooling, Peaceful Parenting, Tennis

I am part of the organising group for a TEDx event in my home town of Panchgani, where change is the most necessary need of the hour. Change in attitudes towards education and in the way we think about tourism in our region the two things that generat the majority of financial income for the local residents. Both of which are struggling to keep abreast with the outside competition from international schools and destinations.

Being!